I’ve been spending much of this week catching up with a great many tasks that were backing up around me…cork-tiling the bathroom floor and part of the Lodge floor, clearing the tunnel for the winter crops and all the usual stuff such as clearing and mowing the paths in the gardens!
I have got a lot done because I made the decision last week to come off Facebook…and have shared my thoughts with you on this…
I posted a number of pics on FB this morning, as so many people delight in seeing Bealtaine Cottage!
It is, however, almost impossible to respond to comments left on FB as I simply do not have the time and am resolved not to negate my commitment to this blog and the second website at bealtainecottage.org
Those of you who have followed this blog for any amount of time will be aware of the enormous workload I carry and will, therefore, totally understand this.
Recently I came across this quote by Joseph Campbell and was deeply moved to meditate upon it for a while.
We must be willing to get rid of the life we’ve planned, so as to have the life that is waiting for us. The old skin has to be shed before the new one can come. –
Joseph Campbell
It has inspired me to “go with the flow” much more and to simply get on and do whatever tasks need doing, rather than planning and then becoming despondent at what I have not achieved…I can be my own hardest and most severe taskmaster!
I am determined to come away from this driven approach and relax into life more!
I could do with taking lessons from Sammy-bear, seen here by the Catnip in the tunnel, out of his mind!
Cats remind us all how we should relax…frequently and often!
On the other hand…looking at his spaced-out expression…maybe not!
There is another quote I wish to share with you. It is on a slightly different note, but one that you may find meaningful at this time…for I am aware of the events in our world recently…
This is a dark time, filled with suffering and uncertainty. Like living cells in a larger body, it is natural that we feel the trauma of our world. So don’t be afraid of the anguish you feel, or the anger or fear, because these responses arise from the depth of your caring and the truth of your interconnectedness with all beings.
Joanna Macy
I have found this to be comforting as I attempt to make sense of the chaos!
There is so much to rejoice in when out in Nature…
This is a bank holiday weekend here in Ireland, and also the great festival of Lughnasadh!
I will stride forth on Lughnasadh Eve to a high point on a nearby mountain to welcome in the new season and pay tribute to Mother Earth and in particular, Mother Ireland.
To celebrate the season is to turn one’s back on the machinations, arrogance and hubris of Man, seeking instead, the warmth and generosity of the Great Mother…Earth, in all her beauty!
Before I go, just to let you know, I am writing a blog on the Bealtaine Cottage Good Life website, all about using sheep wool in the tunnel as I prepare it for the Autumn/Winter sowing and planting.
I am still clearing, but once I begin using the wool I shall take lots of pics and post them in the blog, along with detailed explanations of how and why.
You can become a member of the site here…
https://bealtainecottage.com/bealtaine-cottage-good-life/
See you on the other site tomorrow!
Bealtaine Cottage Good Life membership is 12 euros per year and allows me a small income to continue to grow the Bealtaine Project both here in Ireland and in the hearts and minds of good people all over the world.
Please join…
You may remember that last week I visited the Atlantic shoreline to harvest some seaweed to use on the garden. 
The strands to the south of Sligo town have piles of loose seaweed here and there along the beaches.
Always only ever take the loose stuff…don’t pull seaweed from stones as these form habitats and are essential to the ecology of the seashore!
In the end I managed about three big bags of seaweed and headed home with my foraged booty!
The first thing I do is to spread it on the gravel around the cottage and allow the rain to wash out excess salt.
After about a week, I start to spread the seaweed around established plants in the garden and tunnel.
The seaweed acts as a wonderful feed and a weed-suppressing mulch!
One of the best things about growing food in the garden is the opportunity to use local and near resources that are free to be foraged or collected…seaweed is an organic fertiliser! 
Seaweed is washed in by the tide, so is easy to forage!
Only ever take what you need!
And as the seasons come and go, here’s something you might like to know. 
It is often in the early morn or at dusk that I find myself in a strange little corner of the gardens, which stretch to three acres and I attempt to capture the moment through the lens. 
For my part, I believe in the Sidhe and have often felt their presence. 
You may make of them what you will. 
Bealtaine Cottage is quite alive at all times and especially today, Midsummer, 20th day of June 2016. 
The veil is thin… 
This is of very special meaning to me and heralds the presence of my Mother, for this is her Angel sitting by a plant which was dedicated to her. 
The Tuatha de Danann, the people of the Goddess Danu, were one of the great ancient tribes of Ireland. 
Due to the demand from those of you wishing to visit Bealtaine Cottage, I am opening for visitors daily. 
However, please read on… 
To plan and book your visit, (booking is essential, as casual visitors will be turned away), you must be a subscriber to Bealtaine Cottage Good Life website. 
You will find all the details you need to plan and book your visit on 
To become a member of Bealtaine Cottage Good life, simply visit: 
Envisioning the end is enough to put the means in motion. ~Dorothea Brande
Many people ask me, time and again,
The answer is simple, as is much of what I do and how I live my life…no plans, just a vision!
The power of envisioning is just beginning to be understood.
Much has been said about this process and, as yet, we have only a small level of understanding how it works, but the process of manifestation is a powerful one indeed. 
Dreaming is the first step to becoming. 
At a time when hope seems to be marginalized, almost cast aside, as the grim reality of the world today pervades our lives, creating a vision of a better world can be a powerful beginning.
I don’t have a television in my home…that leaves a wonderful void to be filled, and I fill it with imagination and creativity. 
Simply unleashing our imaginations can be empowering. 
We really have such little understanding of the power of our imaginations.
Yet most of us are aware of the ways in which a troubled mind can manifest and create chaos and unhappiness!
If one, then the other (opposite), is equally possible! 
If we cannot envision the world we would like to live in, we cannot work towards its creation. If we cannot place ourselves in it in our imagination, we will not believe it is possible. 
My vision was always one of co-creating with the Goddess, a Garden of Eden.
One of abundance and beauty.
I veered away from straight lines, squares, harshness that implied dominance.
I wanted to coax Her into life, reassure Her that this would be Her garden.
Everything seems to indicate that we must not be afraid of dreaming the seemingly impossible if we want the seemingly impossible to become a reality. 
And so it is…
For the 99 percent of the time we’ve been on Earth, we were hunter and gatherers, our lives dependent on knowing the fine, small details of our world. Deep inside, we still have a longing to be reconnected with the nature that shaped our imagination, our language, our song and dance, our sense of the divine. 
As an integral part of the global awakening that is happening, humankind are being called back to the earth, to reconnect with Gaia. 
Not everyone is feeling this at the same time…as each one of us on our own sacred journey comes to experience in own time. 
This morning, awakening around six thirty, I ventured out into the gardens to experience the early morning mist, which, as I type at almost 11am, prevails.
Ireland has been experiencing some incredibly good weather in recent weeks and so it goes on. 
In other parts of the world, devastating storms have wreaked havoc! 
Yet, in all of this uncertainty and upset, the advance of those seeking to connect with Mother Earth increases. 
We are like lost children in need of the comfort of a parent.
And perhaps this is a good thing, for to be like children on this Sacred Earth will connect us much easier than any other way. 
So what is it about children that gives them the advantage in understanding their place in the Universe? 
Could it be that they are naturally curious? 
Have we allowed our lives to become subsumed in the detritus of the material world? 
I often pass gardens where all is so perfectly straight and neat that I actively squint in attempting to see Mother Nature…and often I do not see Her at all!
Yet I know that control of Nature brings unhappiness and discontent…the sort of feeling where frustration begins to eat at one’s very soul! 
So what are the tools we need to enable us to reconnect with Mother Earth.
I have the privilege to be able to observe small children when they visit Bealtaine with their parents and it is nothing less than a joy to behold! 
What a joy it is to feel the soft, springy earth under my feet once more,
It’s always a strange time when the moon is full. 
This May moon has cast it’s brightness over Ireland, presiding over an extraordinary time of growth.
All around the cottage there are flowers opening, plants growing, seemingly overnight and trees now heavy with leaf and blossom. 
Where would an Irish cottage garden be without the beautiful and traditional Perlagonium?
And, of course, every cottage garden has a little spot for Succulents…I plant these in terracotta pots and here in this old planter. 
Always lots of tasks to complete as in painting the old Buddha, so he may survive another winter!
As in all cottage gardens, famous for their mish-mash of flowers, vegetables fruit and just about everything else, edibles share potager beds with their close relations!
I have had to move many plants from pots and plant them in spaces wherever I can find them. 
The nursery bed, essential to a cottage garden, is being cleared fast, with plants going into the long beds down by the road. 
Pieris and Poppies…as always, flowers are squashed in beside the most unsuitable bed mates…the Poppy is planted in with Flowering Currant! 
And sitting in my chair on the veranda, looking up…the classic cottage garden rose. 
The all-forgiving Cottage Garden will tolerate just about everything one wants to “throw out!” Except, of course, I throw little away, favouring a good old re-purpose, as in this old, but very comfy, fireside chair! 
And…the beautiful Wisteria…tougher than it looks and essential “cottage garden!” 
Nothing pristine here! 
Even Jack…unlike Sammy-Bear! 
Oh Jack, you are a little beaut! 
This is very apt today as I have been in and out of the garden, working and reading…Dictator by Robert Harris, the third and last book in the Cicero trilogy. 
Many of you are aware that I do not have a TV, nor want one, come to that!
Marcus Tullius Cicero was a Roman philosopher, politician, lawyer, orator, political theorist, consul, and constitutionalist. 
It was a time when Roman fought Roman and the fabric of society was torn apart. 
But, to return to the quote above…Cicero had life sorted in my opinion. 
There is a background noise that seems to permeate home life, emanating from TVs, computers and screens linked to the internet. 
Creating a private space where you can go to read, write, pursue a craft, or simply unwind is a positive step towards establishing good mental health and physical relaxation, in other words, a body and mind space! 
The words of Cicero are particularly relevant today as society seems to struggle to keep a grip on sanity and calm. 
Went for a walk down to the pond and made a video on the way, as the sun shone and the birds sang…what a beautiful day! 
Just recalling how a mere twelve years ago there was nothing here by wet, rushy ground that was impenetrable to the spade! 
There is even a Spring Well, dug out from stone, deep within the Fairy Wood! 
Bealtaine Cottage…from monoculture to permaculture in twelve short years! 
